Apart from the absolutely brililant brass music from Grimthorpe Colliery band, it paints a true and realistic picture of the (then) plight of the miners, instead of the adverse and biased publicity given out by Thatchers media. A quarter of a million men lost their jobs due to the pit closures and to read and listen to the ridicule and dismissive comments of the media at the time you would think it was the miners' fault !
This romantic comedy/social drama is a British film worthy of a fresh audience. In many ways its a companion piece to Billy Elliot (2000) in it's setting within a north England mining town dealing with the collapse of community due to pit closure although this film is more political than the later film. Set in the fictional town of Grimley where the coal mine is the lifeblood of the community. The mine survived closure during the infamous 1984 strike but now in 1992 it again faces closure despite being profitable. The story follows the colliery brass band led by Danny (Pete Postlethwaite) who believes 'only music matters' and he bullies and badgers his band to win the local tournaments with a dream of making it to the national championships. But many of his players are struggling with the likely loss of their jobs including Danny's son, Phil (Stephen Tomkinson) and young Andy (Ewan McGregor). The arrival of ex local girl, Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald) perks them all up as she's a humble but gifted trumpet player and very attractive too much to Andy's delight. But the pressure of debts, job losses and the potential of the mine and the brass band ending makes the chances of getting to the finals doubtful unless Danny can get them all behind the idea. This is a serious drama with some superbly written comedy thrown in, it has sadness and romance all in the mix making it a delight. There's a great British cast and you may recognise the famous speech that Danny makes at the film's ending as parts of it were sampled in Chumbawumba's great pop hit Tubthumping. Either way this is a great little British film and well worth seeking out if you've never seen it.